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After the Community Needs Assessment, students should have a list of community needs or problems. Now they must choose the one need that they would most like to address in their service learning project. If they are working as part of a group, they will need to find one issue or problem on which they'd all like to work. But, how?
There really is no one answer or process for narrowing the list of issues or problems, but there are questions that students can ask themselves.
The issue they ultimately choose should be one that:
- Somehow touches their lives.
- Is an authentic community need.
- Can connect to several learning needs (content standards or school curriculum) and/or their Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
- They will enjoy learning about and impacting.
- They can feasibly impact. For example, students at this age can't necessarily eliminate homelessness, but they can change the fact that homeless people have no coats to wear during the winter months.
What practitioners can do:
- Challenge students to select an issue or problem that fulfills all of the above criteria. Guide them to complete the student log to help during this process. They may need help identifying the learning needs they can meet, but they should and can be part of this process. See "The Standards" for ideas.
- Encourage students to explore diverse problems.
- If student groups are working together to select an issue, you may want to spend some time focusing on what makes a successful group.
- If the class is selecting one issue to impact, think about how you will reach a class consensus.
- Once students have selected their issue, have them present it to the rest of the class, along with a justification for their choice.
What students can do:
- Begin by listing several issues they might want to impact. Then use the Student Log to help them narrow their choices.
- Refer back to their Self-Assessment to ensure they choose something that reflects their interests, talents, and experiences.
Ideas for Reflection: Have students write about the things that influenced their final decision. Was the process easy or difficult? Are they pleased with the final decision?
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Student worksheets are available for Steps 1-5.
Click here
to download them. |
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